Not A Moment To Spare

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Ideas Put Forward.":

The current Council have had to spend too much time and money clearing up the mess from the previous one. It would be great if they could move forward together to do something positive about that wretched site. It could be a project to which they could point in pride if they decided to run again. There are no examples from the previous group that come to mind. This Council has an opportunity to make a lasting mark if they don't get caught up in squabbling matches.
Everyone should be interested enough to push this thing forward and to stop taking direction from staff.
Just for a change, tell staff what you would like to see and assign them to produce the necessary information in a specific time frame. It is your job.

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I posted the above comment because I am so pleased to receive it.

There were others. Accusing me of accusing staff for a problem.It's typical of the reading comprehension thing I mentioned a couple of weeks ago.

I find it remarkable how some people can read in the written word exactly what they want to read.

I read again my post on the Notices of Motion. I place full responsibility for the new version of the rules of procedure on Council. We approved the bylaw.

Another comment asked where the Municipal Act allows Notices of Motion to be placed on a blog prior to presentation to Council.

Actually, the Municipal Act does not refer to blogs or town web sites either.

It does require, as the second order of business after a Council is sworn into office, a Procedure Bylaw to be adopted.

Part of which is to notify the community of the agenda of any town business meeting.

I did verbally put the idea of this site and using the hydro reserve funds forward .a couple of weeks ago under new business. It has already been reported in the newspapers.

The Bylaw protecting the funds for an extraordinary purpose requires the community to have a month's notice of any proposal to encourage input and support.

I think a month may not be long enough. But that's why I am anxious to get the thing started.

Summer is not a good time to try for input from the community. As soon as kids are out of school, parents get taken up with family business.

We have thirty-three million dollars to spend on. a project which would be wonderful to have but impossible to justify putting on the tax bill.

It has to be  a facility we currently do not enjoy.

Sports and recreation facilities can always be justified.  In the last twenty-five years, during our time of growth, we have had development charges to pay for those facilities.
We were allowed to collect  from developers.Who in turn no doubt passed them on to home buyers.

We have provided programs for non-sports users in a variety of places. We built an auditorium with the first arena and called it a community centre. We built an art gallery in the town hall and designed the council chamber for concerts.  The library has meeting rooms. We use school space.

It's not enough.It's not reliable.It's not a central hive of similar activity. 
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Now we are contemplating a far-flung location for a teen centre. At considerable expense.

I think a place for teens to meet should be the same  place where everyone might meet. From morning to night., people coming and going without downtime, to follow their bliss.

I think it should be in the square that holds the library, the heritage centre, the churches,and whatever else might be said to contain  the hearts and minds of the community, essentially in the heart of the community.

I am using the blog to inform. It's an opportunity. Already staff have targeted the fund to use it for an administrative purpose. Borrow from it to build a new and extravagant public works facility.

Selling the hydro facility was a hard decision to make. The province was breathing down our necks to eliminate small utilities. We were contemplating amalgamating with Newmarket. They would have been the majority partner. They were exacting a heavy price. Power Stream made an offer  hard to refuse.

When I made my decision between the two, it was on the basis , returns would be used to create an asset that would at least equal the benefit of owning our own hydro.

If Aurora ever loses her autonomy, the centre I visualize would always be ours.

It has to be started and supported and rounded out by the community. Council,of course must be the guiding force and cast the deciding vote.

But we can't do it alone.

The word needs to go out and not a moment to spare. Too much time has been wasted already on negative stuff

It will still be there to be dealt with but it will not pre-occupy all our effort.

Nothing brings a Council to-gether like an exciting project that gives everyone satisfaction.